A significantly higher number of Americans are using prescription drugs now than were a decade ago, researchers report in a new study.

UPI reports that many of the most used drugs reflect the effects of metabolic syndrome, a group of conditions tied to obesity and diet.

View of seven hydrocodone pills Prescription use in the United States is at an all-time high.(Bill Ingram/Palm Beach Post)

“Eight of the 10 most commonly used drugs in 2011-2012 are used to treat components of the cardiometabolic syndrome, including hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia,” researchers wrote in the study.

Another big increase in prescriptions come from what are called proton-pump inhibitors used for acid reflux, another condition prevalent among the obese.

The UPI story finds analyzed data on 37,959 adults aged 20 and older that was gathered as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999 to 2012. The data showed that overall prescription drug use increased from about 51 percent of the U.S. population to 59 percent, with the most significant increases in use among people aged 40 to 64 and 65 years and older.

We are also taking more drug cocktails every day with the use of five or more prescription drugs at once increasing from 8 to 15 percent.

“When we’re starting to see more and more adults using five or more drugs, it does raise a concern about the potential for drug interaction,” Dr. Elizabeth Cantor, an epidemiologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and lead researcher on the study, told NPR in separate story.

Opioid-based painkillers – such as OxyContin – and similar drugs do not appear in the top ten drugs in the study, epidemics of opioid misuse and abuse, as well as drugs used to treat psychiatric conditions, have raised concerns about the well-being of the population, the UPI story states.